Happy Birthday, Shiro-chan
A/N: A long drabble (does this even count as a drabble?) for dear Hitsugaya's birthday.
Happy belated birthday, Hitsugaya-kun!
"Shiro-chan…"
"Ungh…" Toshiro groaned, rolling over in his bed. There was someone bothering Toshiro, and he was not enjoying it. It was the one day he could sleep in, and it was getting ruined for God's sakes!
"Shiro-chan…"
"What?" Toshiro muttered angrily, flipping around again and opening his eyes slightly. But once he saw the face of the intruder, the squinted eyes grew larger. "Hinamori."
"Good morning, lazy bum!" Momo chimed happily. "Do you know how late it is?"
"No, and I don't want to know. What are you doing here?" Toshiro asked, sitting up.
"Come on, Hitsugaya-kun! How could you forget?" Momo said exasperated.
"What? Matsumoto spilled sake in the office again?" Toshiro put a hand to his face, assuming the worst. He would never forgive his lieutenant for spilling her precious sake all over his paperwork two days ago, ruining a good five hours' worth of work. Fortunately for Rangiku, all she received was the other end of Hyorinmaru, and nothing worse.
"Huh?" Now confused, Momo cocked her head. "No, Rangiku-san didn't do anything like that! Come on Shiro-chan! What day is today?"
"Uh…"
"Jeez, Taicho," Rangiku practically waltzed in with a big smile on her face. "It's December 20th!"
"So? What's so special about the twent- oh." Finally realizing the significance of the date, Toshiro paused. "Oh."
"Yeah! Happy birthday, Hitsugaya-kun!" Momo said. "Now get out of bed, there's somewhere we are going to celebrate!"
"Eh?" Toshiro, still wondering where all of the days went, looked up when Momo said that they were going somewhere to celebrate. "We're not going anywhere!" Momo giggled.
"Too late! I already talked to Rukia-san, and she asked that boy that she was staying with in the real world about it. They're going to take us somewhere in the real world for your birthday!"
"Wha-bu-wait, I have work to do!" With no other good excuse, Toshiro used the old standby.
"Ah, Taicho. Go relax a bit in the real world. You need a vacation! I'll take care of the work today!" Rangiku said, walking out of the room.
"Are-are you kidding me?" Toshiro stammered as he was dragged out of bed by Momo. "Let go of me, Bed-Wetter!" Momo gasped.
"Since when did you call me that again?"
"Since now. Let go!"
"Come on, Hitsugaya-kun. Please?" Momo pleaded.
"Uh…"
"Please?" She begged.
"Well…"
"Okay!" Not waiting for a full answer, Momo dragged Toshiro out of the room. "We're off, Rangiku-san!" And with that, the two burst out of the door.
"Young love," Rangiku chuckled.
"Hinamori…"
"We're almost there, Hitsugaya-kun," Momo said, bouncing off a rooftop. After a few more hops, she pointed. "There!"
"There what?"
"There's Rukia-san! That must be where she has been staying all this time."
"Kurosaki Ichigo's house," Toshiro said.
"Ichigo? That's his name?"
"Yes. You didn't know?"
"No, I've never met him before! Strawberry?" Momo giggled as she landed in front of Rukia.
"Momo! Hitsugaya-taicho!" Rukia greeted. "How are you?"
"Great!" Momo said enthusiastically. "Here's the birthday boy!" She said, elbowing the frowning Toshiro.
"Oh, so it's your birthday," Ichigo walked out of the house. "I was wondering why Rukia suddenly asked me about a good place 'for Hitsugaya-taicho to play in,' as she so nicely put it." Rukia turned red.
"Well, it was the best thing I could say at the time!" Rukia defended lamely. She looked cautiously at the captain in question, who was trying with great difficulty to stay put and not run away.
"Um…" Caught up in between, Momo laughed. "Well, where's this place for Hitsugaya-kun to play in?" She looked at Rukia. Rukia paused for a second, then looked up at Ichigo.
"Well, I'm… Not really sure either…Ichigo?" Rukia trailed on. Ichigo had explained a place earlier, but not much of it made sense to Rukia.
"Since it's your birthday," Ichigo said. "I thought it would fit if we went up to the mountains. You might like it too, Rukia," he said to her. Toshiro looked up in surprise.
"The mountains? Why the hell would that be a 'good place' for me to play in?" Toshiro said, caving in. He couldn't help being at least slightly interested. Besides, it did get him away from a certain, annoying, headache-causing, big-busted, sake-drinking, non-working lieutenant… And Momo's so excited… Toshiro thought softly, looking up at the girl's radiating face. He hadn't seen her like this for quite some time. It made him feel… happy for her, oddly enough.
"Well, we're going to go snowboarding," Ichigo said. "You strap yourself onto a wooden board and slide down a snow-covered mountain. I thought you might like it, you know, snow…" Toshiro thought for a second, then turned an incredulous face to Ichigo.
"A wooden board?!"
"Come on, Shiro-chan!"
"No!"
"There's nothing to be afraid of, Hitsugaya-taicho!"
"Oh really?"
"This is just for fun, Toshiro."
"I am not going to tie myself to a wooden board and go down an effing steep cliff just for fun!" Toshiro fumed. "You humans do this for fun? That's dangerous!"
"What? Are you afraid?" Momo chided, smiling. "Come on, I'm going to try it!"
"What?" Toshiro looked up, cocking his head. "Are you gutsy enough to do it?" He chided back.
"Of course I am!" Momo reprimanded. "Apparently you're not!"
"Fine! I'll go!" Toshiro marched away, heading for the entrance into the rental cabin. "You coming?" Momo laughed and ran to her friend, leaving Rukia and Ichigo wondering what the hell exactly happened.
"Okay, now all we need is your height and weight." The rental guy behind the counter looked at the four people in front of him. "I'll get you the right sized boards."
"Uh…174 centimeters?" Ichigo guessed. "And 60 kilograms. Or something like that." He then looked back at his friends, and couldn't help snickering.
"What?" Rukia muttered.
"I'm surrounded by midgets," Ichigo replied, receiving a punch from Rukia and a verbal assault from Momo and Toshiro. "It's true! How tall are you, Toshiro?" Caught off guard by the question, the little captain looked away, blushing slowly.
"None of your business."
"Excuse me? I guess that would make it my business," the rental guy said, smiling and trying not to laugh. "How tall are you?"
"133," Toshiro muttered, glaring at Ichigo, who laughed.
"Sorry," Ichigo sobered up after receiving a really nasty glare and kick from Rukia. Momo sighed.
"This is going to be a long day…"
"Okay. How the hell does this damn thing work?" Toshiro asked. The four of them were at the top of the mountain looking down the easiest green-colored slope. Everyone, with the exception of Ichigo, was struggling with the process of attaching their loose foot to the board.
"Ichigo, you didn't tell me this would be so much work," Rukia muttered, stomping her foot into the foot clasp but ended up slipping and landed on her butt. "Ow!"
"Um… Is this right?" Momo asked, looking down at her board. Ichigo slid over to her and looked at her board.
"Congratulations, Momo. You are officially smarter than those two," Ichigo said sarcastically, shaking his head at Rukia and Toshiro.
"What is that supposed to mean, Kurosaki?" Toshiro said, glaring at the substitute shinigami.
"Nothing. Ignore him, Hitsugaya-taicho," Rukia said, also glaring at Ichigo.
"Uh… Okay," Ichigo shrugged, not at all fazed by the midget brigade. "The guy fitted that foot binding so your feet would fit in there. Just slip your foot into it," Ichigo said, demonstrating with his own feet.
"Well, why didn't you tell us sooner?" Rukia said, smiling as she looked down at her accomplishment.
"Don't look so happy. You still have that," Ichigo said, pointing down the slope. He watched, amused as Rukia's face fell.
"That's the slope that we slide down on?" Momo asked, fear seeping in. She looked at Rukia, seeing her expression mirrored on her friend's face as well.
"Hey, I think I'm getting it," Toshiro said. While the girls were looking down the slope, he was attempting to figure out how a snowboard works and how to actually snowboard. As the three others looked back, he started sliding around the area back and forth, much to the girl's displeasure.
"Oh, now you two will leave us here and we'll freeze," Momo muttered. Toshiro hopped over to his friend.
"Nah, I'll help you down," Toshiro said. "Come on."
"Uh, okay – hey, wait for me!" Momo, who still didn't have her foot in the board, looked up to see Toshiro sliding away. "Well, at least he could wait!" She was about to reach the slope when she heard a loud squeal.
"Ichigo, you idiot!" Rukia screamed.
"What? I was only helping you down," Ichigo said, all innocent.
"You pushed me! I can't even balance on this thing!" Momo smiled at her friend's humorous bickering.
"Well, I'll see you two at the bottom of the slope!" Momo waved. She then slowly, stiffly began sliding down to Toshiro who was waiting a short distance away.
"You're so slow," Toshiro commented. "Come on, we'll get down to the bottom before those two," he said, smirking as he nodded to Ichigo who was struggling with Rukia.
"Okay!" Momo said. She hopped so that one foot was in front of the other, and then began to slide. "Hey, I can do this!"
"Of course you can. Idiot," Toshiro said. Now that he had the hang of the board, Toshiro easily slid down the slope in a zig-zag pattern.
"Hey, wait for me!" Momo called again. In an attempt to catch up, she forced her board to go faster. What she didn't notice was that Toshiro had stopped in front of her, so she ended up speeding straight into him. With the momentum and the lack of control, the two of them tumbled down the mountain together.
Oh shit. Thinking fast, Toshiro somehow stuck his snowboard out, effectively stopping their unwanted decent down the mountain. "Are you okay, Hinamori?" He looked at Momo, whose face was hidden.
"Oh, I-I'm fine," Momo said, muffled. When she looked up, Toshiro noticed her face looked slightly pink. "Uh… You can let go of me now, Hitsugaya-kun."
"O-oh," Toshiro, who was still clutching Momo, quickly let go and got up. He stuck out a hand to help her up. "Let's get to the bottom, then."
"Yeah…"
The slow trip down the slope was surrounded by an awkward silence that was only broken when Momo needed help. It was a slow process, but neither of them could say they didn't like it. Finally spending time together, even after that terrible, embarassing tumble, they both enjoyed it.
We haven't even talked since… Momo thought a bit, but couldn't even remember the last time just the two of them talked about something that didn't concern work. She looked ahead to where Toshiro had slid, watching the lonely profile sliding back and forth across the frozen plain of snow and ice.
When the two of them got to the bottom of the slope, they met up with Rukia and Ichigo.
"Are you two okay?" Rukia asked frantically. "We saw you two tumbling down the slope!"
"Yeah, but I couldn't help because someone was clinging on me so friggin' tight!" Ichigo looked down at Rukia.
"Don't you look at me like that!" Rukia retorted, and once again the two of them seemed to want to rip each other's heads off.
"Ah, Ichigo-san, Rukia-san, please don't fight!" Momo said, quickly trying to cool the two. "We're fine. Right, Hitsugaya-kun?"
"Yeah. Fine," Toshiro nodded.
"Do you want to go again, Shiro-chan?" Momo suddenly asked excitedly. Toshiro hesitated, thinking about their experience not ten minutes ago. "Oh, I won't fall again. Don't worry!" And with that, Momo dragged the boy away.
"Well, then. Wanna go to a harder course?" Ichigo asked Rukia. Up for anything, she smirked.
"Of course."
"So how was it?" Ichigo asked. "You guys liked snowboarding?"
After nearly freezing to death snowboarding, the four were sitting in the cabin; a quaint little room with a cozy fire roaring nearby. They had dinner, and the girls were in front of the fire trying to get warm while Toshiro and Ichigo sat at the table.
"It was fun, wasn't it, Hitsugaya-kun?" Momo said happily. "It's nice you finally got a vacation!"
"Sure," Toshiro said.
"Didn't you go down a diamond by yourself?" Momo asked. Toshiro nodded, to Ichigo's astonishment.
"A diamond? Wow. You are a child prodigy. You didn't kill yourself?"
"Of course not, dumbass. Or I wouldn't be here, would I?" Toshiro scowled.
"Yeah. I said I wanted to take a break, so I waited here while Hitsugaya-kun went up again. I suppose he could go faster without me there…" Momo said thoughtfully.
"Well, I think we'd better get back home. Lemme just go check the car…" Ichigo got up and looked out the window. "Or not."
"What? What's wrong?" Rukia asked, getting up. She walked over to where Ichigo was, and looked out.
"We're completely snowed in," Ichigo groaned, pointing out the window. "I guess we have to stay the night here."
"What?" Toshiro groaned as well. "Great. I'm going to get a wonderful welcome back from Matsumoto and the paperwork tomorrow."
"Wait, can't you use your zanpakuto and like, get us out?" Ichigo asked, completely clueless.
"In case you didn't realize it, smart one, we don't have any gikongan or anything," Rukia retorted, sitting next to the fire once again. "We really are stuck here."
"Great," Ichigo muttered. "I'll see if I can… get some rooms or something." As he walked away, Rukia turned to Momo.
"Wait a minute. What's a 'diamond'?"
"I guess this is… cozy enough," Momo said, sitting down on the little twin-sized bed.
"So Momo and Rukia can share a room. I'll bunk with Toshiro," Ichigo said.
"Why can't I sleep with you?" Rukia asked Ichigo, much to his discomfort. Why did she have to say it like that?
"Well, I thought that I should… You know, give the girls a bit of privacy?" Ichigo said lamely. "Unless Momo and Toshiro…"
"Um… I don't mind," Momo said.
I didn't know figuring out where to sleep would be such a big deal… Ichigo sighed. "Look. If Rukia wants to stay in a room with me, fine. Momo and Toshiro are in the other room. Now, I want to go to bed."
"Come on, Shiro-chan. Let's leave them," Momo giggled. They walked out of the room they were in and into the adjacent one. They prepared to go to bed – taking baths, changing, cleaning up.
"Do we have to… share a bed?" Toshiro muttered. "Kurosaki's an idiot. Why can't he get a room with two beds?"
"Hm… I guess so. You don't mind, do you?" Momo asked.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not really," Momo smiled as she got into the bed. "Come on," she said as Toshiro hesitated.
"Oh boy," Toshiro muttered. He slowly got into bed, noticing that Momo was watching him. He laid down and pulled the covers up, stopping when he felt Momo snuggle on his shoulder. "Uh, Hinamori?"
"Hm… Happy birthday, Shiro-chan," Momo murmured, closing her eyes as she slowly fell asleep. Toshiro slowly pulled the covers over both of them, making sure that Momo would be warm.
"Thanks, Momo," he whispered.
